Woodfluter
Practically Family
- Messages
- 784
- Location
- Georgia
Hello folks, new in town, breaking out of lurker mode, looks like my kind of place.
But getting to the point...
Q: Should I stretch or shrink?
I've been a longtime hat wearer, since the late 1960's, and unfortunately an in-between size. Twixt 7-3/8 and 7-1/2, or roughly 59 and 60 metric. In general I have gotten 7-3/8 and worked on it to stretch it to size. I won't go into my less-successful ventures, but the usual procedure I've followed is to wet the lower portion of the crown felt and put it on my head (a very accurate but somewhat painful hat stretcher) and jam it down over those bones at the back of one's head, and pull down to the eyebrows. And eventually, work the fingers under one side, then the other, pulling gingerly while being careful not to exceed the tensile strength of sweatband or stiches. Carry on until dryness or intermittently for a number of hours.
This sort of works. But with the passage of time, reshrinkage can occur, depending on the quality of the hat and atmospheric conditions and moon phases. And sometimes the crown shape suffers, alas. Taper can set in - the lower part fits right but "geez, I really liked it better when it was more straight-sided".
So...recently bought an Akubra Banjo Paterson (as per my present icon, ignoring the dog). Got it in 60, not having read here that Akubras just might run a tad large. Well, great hat but just not quite a perfect fit. Didn't encounter stiff breezes first times out, but I knew what could happen. What I was seeking, being decidedly dolicephaic (a long oval), is some fore-and-aft spring so it would clamp on tight in extremis but not notice pressure if I pushed it up a bit. This is to be an outdoor, everyday hat.
So, I approached this from the other side of the equation. Spray bottle, pat moisture only in at lower part of crown and inner edge of brim, dry of excess, repeat until reasonable degree of saturation. Then I hit it with a hair dryer. For about an hour. My logic was (please feel free to correct me!) this is made of hair, and yes, it's compacted hair and can't dissapate heat as quickly, but still less potential for damage than steaming. Kept moving over the wetted portion, with fingers in the way so discomfort would warn me of impending over-heating. From previous experience with deliberately shrinking wool and cotton, I knew most of the shrinkage would occur at the end of the process, under higher temperature, and at the very end of the drying process. Still, I had to do this through two campaigns to get what I wanted.
End result: Best fitting hat I own. Allowed final (tiny bit!) of drying to take place on my head over period of hours. But kept at the dryer until it seemed past dry. But it is now pretty nearly exactly in between 59 and 60. Have to say the Heritage grade bunny felt is really resistant to shrinkage! I don't think it would be possible to shrink it more than a half size.
Now for the caveats: I kept the Barramundi fishskin band moist by repeatedly wetting it during the process. But on the positive side, no wrinkling and no bunching of the sweatband. And no damage at all to the hatband.
So folks, I have a Federation IV Deluxe on order from Hats Direct. In 60, expected mid-April. What do you think? Should I count on repeating on my success, or is there some better way?
Any suggestions appreciated!
- Bill
But getting to the point...
Q: Should I stretch or shrink?
I've been a longtime hat wearer, since the late 1960's, and unfortunately an in-between size. Twixt 7-3/8 and 7-1/2, or roughly 59 and 60 metric. In general I have gotten 7-3/8 and worked on it to stretch it to size. I won't go into my less-successful ventures, but the usual procedure I've followed is to wet the lower portion of the crown felt and put it on my head (a very accurate but somewhat painful hat stretcher) and jam it down over those bones at the back of one's head, and pull down to the eyebrows. And eventually, work the fingers under one side, then the other, pulling gingerly while being careful not to exceed the tensile strength of sweatband or stiches. Carry on until dryness or intermittently for a number of hours.
This sort of works. But with the passage of time, reshrinkage can occur, depending on the quality of the hat and atmospheric conditions and moon phases. And sometimes the crown shape suffers, alas. Taper can set in - the lower part fits right but "geez, I really liked it better when it was more straight-sided".
So...recently bought an Akubra Banjo Paterson (as per my present icon, ignoring the dog). Got it in 60, not having read here that Akubras just might run a tad large. Well, great hat but just not quite a perfect fit. Didn't encounter stiff breezes first times out, but I knew what could happen. What I was seeking, being decidedly dolicephaic (a long oval), is some fore-and-aft spring so it would clamp on tight in extremis but not notice pressure if I pushed it up a bit. This is to be an outdoor, everyday hat.
So, I approached this from the other side of the equation. Spray bottle, pat moisture only in at lower part of crown and inner edge of brim, dry of excess, repeat until reasonable degree of saturation. Then I hit it with a hair dryer. For about an hour. My logic was (please feel free to correct me!) this is made of hair, and yes, it's compacted hair and can't dissapate heat as quickly, but still less potential for damage than steaming. Kept moving over the wetted portion, with fingers in the way so discomfort would warn me of impending over-heating. From previous experience with deliberately shrinking wool and cotton, I knew most of the shrinkage would occur at the end of the process, under higher temperature, and at the very end of the drying process. Still, I had to do this through two campaigns to get what I wanted.
End result: Best fitting hat I own. Allowed final (tiny bit!) of drying to take place on my head over period of hours. But kept at the dryer until it seemed past dry. But it is now pretty nearly exactly in between 59 and 60. Have to say the Heritage grade bunny felt is really resistant to shrinkage! I don't think it would be possible to shrink it more than a half size.
Now for the caveats: I kept the Barramundi fishskin band moist by repeatedly wetting it during the process. But on the positive side, no wrinkling and no bunching of the sweatband. And no damage at all to the hatband.
So folks, I have a Federation IV Deluxe on order from Hats Direct. In 60, expected mid-April. What do you think? Should I count on repeating on my success, or is there some better way?
Any suggestions appreciated!
- Bill
